Dance Like a Child
(c) 1995 by Jim Stringer

Minda was a bride at the age of sixteen.
But she carried her fate with dignity;
Through the sternness of the years
Shone the beauty of simplicity.
Never much for kisses or a tender touch,
Charles was a man who didn't say much;
But he was steady as the Oklahoma wind
Through a cottonwood trees.
In the evening when a candle sent shadows across the room
Charles played accordion
And Minda was like the desert bloom... when she would

Dance like a child, dance like a child...
With her mind set free, her body went wild;
Leadin' with her left, but endin' with a smile;
She worked like a dog all day, but she would dance like a child.

Money was short as the days were long
Times were as tight as the love was strong.
The girl was a woman, and the woman was a mother of three.
Three grew up and one moved away,
One died in the war and the other one strayed.
Soft was her heart but harsh the reality.
And in evening when a candle sent shadows across the room
Charles played accordion
And Minda was like the desert bloom... when she would

Dance like a child, dance like a child...
With her mind set free, her body went wild;
Leadin' with her left, but endin' with a smile;
She worked like a dog all day, but she would dance like a child...
Dance like a child...
Dance like a child...
Dance like a child...

The seeds of the oak and the roots of the tree,
Now Minda and Charles are history,
But they live in the hearts and the branches of the family.
And through life's glare and the din of the talk
I can see a candle, I can hear a squeeze box,
And the voice of Minda comes though like an evening breeze.
The flicker of the candle sends shadows across the room,
I can hear old Charles' accordion
And see Minda, like the desert bloom... and she says:

Dance like a child, dance like a child...
Let your mind go free, let your body get wild;
Lead with your left, end with a smile;
You worked like a dog all day, now dance like a child!